Two storied Major League Baseball franchises meeting in the World Series mixed with 38 legal U.S. sports betting states is a formula for record-setting action.
The New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers will see who wins it all in the best-of-seven series beginning Friday, and operators couldn’t be more excited to see how this turns out for them.
“Yankees-Dodgers was a dream matchup for the sportsbook,” BetMGM trading manager Halvor Egeland said. “We expect a ton of interest and action on each World Series game.”
That message was echoed by other traders and bookmakers.
“This is definitely the dream matchup,” Caesars' lead baseball oddsmaker Eric Biggio told Covers. “The Yankees and Dodgers have been the most bet on teams during the regular season and have been one and two in the World Series futures since opening day.
“The Subway Series would’ve been great for handle as well due to our strong N.Y./ New Jersey presence, but overall I think Yankees-Dodgers is the best outcome. The Dodgers have always drawn a lot of handle here in Nevada, and I’d expect that the series will do big business here as well.”
Since PASPA was overturned in 2018 and online and retail sports betting grew out of Nevada across the country, this marks the first time the Yankees, one of the most popular U.S. sports teams, have played in the World Series.
“We haven’t seen an intriguing matchup like this in a while,” Westgate SuperBook’s Jay Kornegay told Covers. “It’s going to be very popular, but as far as records, we’ll see. Both teams are playing extremely well at the right time. I realize there are haters out there for both teams, but this will be must-watch TV.”
From series bets to moneylines, and total picks to player-prop wagers on some of MLB’s biggest stars, public bettors love this kind of scenario.
“We're hoping that the interest level's going to be high, particularly for this time of the year since we see a lot of sharp action at Prime when it comes to baseball betting,” Prime Sports executive chair Joe Brennan told Covers. “A lot of that falls off by the time the playoffs start. It's tougher for the pros to get an edge in the playoffs. But with two huge public teams like the Yankees and the Dodgers, what we're hoping is that we're going to see a lot of public action try and find a home for this series.”
Early series winner tallies
It’s still early in the week, but bettors are fairly split on who they think will come out on top in the World Series.
At DraftKings, 58% of the handle is on the Dodgers at -125 to win the best-of-seven. During the regular season, the Yankees were the most-bet team in terms of handle and wagers at DraftKings, ahead of the second-place Dodgers. New York is getting 51% of the series bets at +105.
An ESPN BET trading spokesperson told Covers that early numbers on World Series odds show a 60/40 split with L.A. getting the majority of the action.
However, the Yankees are seeing 62% of the bets and 60% of the handle at FanDuel.
Futures markets
Game 1 will set a strong tone for bettors and sportsbooks. The hosting Dodgers are a -130 favorite on Friday, and they’re getting 57% of the handle. However, 65% of the Game 1 tickets have come in on New York.
As for how the series will go, the “Correct Score” market for Los Angeles four games to two is +380 at ESPN BET and has seen 30% of all action. The most popular series correct score market at FanDuel is the Yankees in six games (4-2).
Sportsbooks are also sweating out the results of season-long markets, like the World Series winner. New York has the most handle to win it all at FanDuel. In terms of tickets, Philadelphia led that market with the Yankees listed third and the Dodgers sixth.
DraftKings reported that 14% of the handle and 26% of bets in that futures market are on the Dodgers at +350 to win it all. The Yankees at +170 have 13% of the handle and 14% of the tickets.
Player power
World Series history is littered with role players coming up big in clutch situations and deciding the outcomes of crucial games, but bettors don’t really care as much about that when it comes to player props.
Yankees-Dodgers features some of the biggest names in the game, like Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge, Mookie Betts, Giancarlo Stanton, Juan Soto, and Gerrit Cole.
“With the growing interest and handle in player props, this matchup provides the most star power out of the playoff teams. I anticipate the home run prop action on Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge to be among our bigger decisions on a game-by-game basis,” Biggio said.
Judge has held the honor of being the most popular bet to hit a home run throughout many of MLB’s playoff games. Ohtani will see plenty of action in prop markets as well.
The Dodgers star has had a wild first year in L.A., from his interpreter’s betting scandal to being the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in the same season.
Major difference in markets
The Yankees and Dodgers play in two of the four most populous U.S. states, but one has a legal sports betting market and the other does not.
New York is the nation’s most lucrative sports betting state. Nine online operators have combined to haul in nearly $1.5 billion in year-to-date revenue from $15.8 billion wagered, including $2 billion in September.
Neighboring New Jersey, another hot Yankees market, is second in the U.S. with a sports betting handle of $9.2 billion in 2024.
“Particularly because we're in the New York area, being in New Jersey, what we're hoping to see is some big Yankee supporters, local supporters, come on strong for this kind of thing,” Brennan said.
California, meanwhile, is the most populous unregulated U.S. state. Multiple attempts to have regulated, commercial sports betting companies set up shop in the Golden State have been challenged and held off by California’s more than 50 tribal nations, which control the state’s gaming.
Millions of dollars from Californians will flow to offshore and social sportsbooks to out-of-state operators during the World Series.
“I can only imagine the handle in New York,” Kornegay said. “California, where are you?
